The Worldbuilding Blogfest: History & Government of The ABACUS Protocol universe

I’m back and better than ever. I’m taking part in Sharon Bayliss’ Worldbuilding blogfest. I’d like to flesh out the world that Sanity Vacuum and the rest of The ABACUS Protocol take place in.

I’m running a day behind, but I’m going to come out swinging with an article on the history and government of The ABACUS Protocol.

The ABACUS Protocol takes place almost 1000 years in the future. In The Pandora Machine (book 2), I establish the date as being 2998-2999. History repeats itself, and many expect the new millennium to herald the end of galactic civilization.

The first colony, Aurora, was founded about 800 years before the events of Sanity Vacuum. The Auroran sun, Helios, is highly unstable, and the first colonists crash landed. The date of planetfall became known as the First Thanksgiving–because they made it to a new world alive. The Second Thanksgiving is the date of the first harvest on their new world, and is celebrated a few weeks before the first in a calendar year. The Thanksgivings are usually referred to collectively.

Over the centuries, other planets were settled. Elyssia, Caesarea, New Damascus, Nova Albion and Kanadia Prime are the most notable colonies.

Until the late 2800s, the galactic hegemony was ruled from Earth. The ABACUS Incident changed everything. ABACUS gained sentience, and in response Earth was cut off from the rest of the galaxy. Humanity plummeted into another dark age, from which it had only recently begun to recover.

The ABACUS Protocol was created so no supercomputer would ever reach sentience, again.

Now, the galactic hegemon is a figurehead, and most planets are self-governing.  Caesarea is ruled by its ruthless Imperatix, and most other planets follow the democratic model. The Epsilon Eridani spaceport was orphaned after the fall of Earth, and is run by a board of administrators. Aurora is controlled by the Traditionalists–anti-technology zealots.

Want more? Tomorrow, I discuss Religion & Culture in The ABACUS Protocol.

Sanity Vacuum, book one of The ABACUS Protocol, is available in paperback and all ebook formats!

 

Haunted Writing Clinic – The first page!

Hello everyone! So sorry to have not been around as much as I should have been. New job, craziness all around. But I’m here now, and I’m going to show (not tell!) my first page of upcoming novel, Sanity Vacuum. But first, here are some observations about first pages in general:

• I like to start the story in some action, mixed in with anticipation. It keeps the readers reading, and it keeps me writing.
• Keep it simple. I establish a main character. Ever been hit with a story that slaps you with multiple characters in the first couple of pages? Or worse, switches POV multiple times. Pick one character and stick with her for a while. She’ll grow on your audience–complexity can come later.
• Set a scene: descriptions! Show, don’t tell. Give the reader enough detail to paint a beautiful picture in their imagination. Stay away from minutiae. Learn to love body language. Avoid excessive adverbs.
• Avoid too much jargon. This mostly applies to science fiction and other-universe fantasy. You’ve created a vibrant, beautiful world, we know, that’s what we’re here for! Don’t overload our neurons with it all at once… that leads to overcooked brains. The master chef won’t approve.

Now, I’m going to serve up my own first chapter. I’m doing a cover reveal for this beauty on Friday, so do check back!

Chapter One

 

The deafening boom of the rocket’s engines filled the air, and Vivian Skye’s lungs. She watched in awe as the spacecraft took flight, climbing into the scintillating green-red glow of Aurora’s chaotic skies.  This was her first visit to the spaceport in the capital city of Antica, Aurora’s only major link to the stars and galaxy beyond. Located close to the planet’s equator, the site was one of the few places on the planet where the electronics required for space flight would work unshielded above ground. Aurora’s star, Helios, was unstable and often experienced geomagnetic storms. While there was little danger to humans in terms of radiation exposure outside the forbidden Polar Regions, most technology would be disabled or damaged beyond repair after leaving the equatorial zone. Aurora had been one of the first worlds colonized by Earth in the early days of space travel—in modern times, it would be passed over as unsuitable for advanced human life.

Vivian swallowed in an effort to center herself, lost in thought. She had never been off-world before. Few Aurorans ever left, preferring a simple life of agriculture and crafts to braving the rigors of deep-space travel and the burgeoning interstellar economy. She gripped the rail as the trail of smoke parted the dancing green and red lights, nerves and stress rattling in her stomach. She didn’t understand her trepidation and fear, because she’d worked her whole life to be able to leave Aurora and travel among the stars. Vivian had studied hard, forsaking friends and a social life for a chance to attend Aurora’s Advanced Technological Institute, the only university on the planet that taught her subject of choice—quantum informatics. Quantum computers fascinated her; she’d read all of the non-classified papers she could find without the benefit of having access to a reading pad, and had collected every book about the ABACUS incident that was available on Aurora. She smiled at the unthinkable reality, that advanced computer intelligence had conquered Earth almost a century ago. So much of humanity relied on ABACUS-type quantum computers that it was impossible to eliminate them, so securing them from being able to become sentient became a renewed focus in quantum informatics.

A New Project Beckons

I’m back after an extended disappearance! I didn’t forget about you guys, but, no news is no news. Now, I have news, am making news and am ready to rock some socks.

Sanity Vacuum is done for the moment and awaiting edits, which leaves me with a void in my life. As we know, nature abhors a vacuum (haha) and thus, there is only one or two logical things to do, especially since day job style work is slow.

1. Fill it with zombies

Bedlam is getting moved off the back burner, and finding itself thrust back into the angry, violent recesses of my mind. The fourth part of the Zombie Bedtime Stories introduces new characters, new places, and new atrocities. There will be some familiar places, and names, because the whole series is interconnected and will lead up to the terrifying and ultimate series conclusion. I love the Zombie Bedtime Stories, and it will get its 12-15 story run.

2. Write a sequel

That’s right, I started the sequel to Sanity Vacuum today. The working title for the series is The ABACUS Protocol, and the title I’ve picked for the sequel is The Pandora Machine. There’s not a lot to tell here yet, but it’s going to be one hell of a ride.

Video book review: Book 2 of The Zombie Bible

I had the privilege of reading and reviewing the second book of The Zombie Bible, What Our Eyes Have Witnessed. The story takes place in ancient Rome, and focuses on the events leading up to the martyrdom of St-Polycarp.

Head on over to The Zombie Bible’s website, and tell Stant I say hi. Or, better yet, pick up this great read. Treat yourself. It’s a couple of months until the next Zombie Bedtime Story, after all.

2012: Year of the Zombie

Welcome to 2012, my fellow time-traveling friends. Yes, we’re all traveling in the mundane direction of our collective proper time, but it’s still time travel in a sense.

2012 means all kinds of great things over at Zombie Bedtime Stories and Sanity Vacuum central. Late 2011 was a difficult period in my life, and I expect early 2012 to follow suit. For those not in the know, I fell ill with pneumonia in late October. This caused my to tear a ligament in my chest, a painful and surprisingly debilitating injury. I have been in a state of near-bedrest and very low mobility ever since. It did, however, propel me into the realm of writing full-time, as there was precious little else I could do, and I’m not the type to feel sorry for myself in bed. In November, through the haze of painkillers and pneumonia-induced confusion, I wrote Sanity Vacuum, my first novel.

In December, I released Deadlocked, and I experienced a pleasing (and startling) spike in sales. As I am still not strong enough to return to work (a 15 minute walk outside laid me up for two days earlier this week), I am going to focus my energies in early 2012 to the following:

1. I am going to do a lot more guest posts, and many more book reviews to increase my visibility.
2. I am going to write at least 500 words/day towards new Zombie Bedtime Stories, as part of #WIP500. Conceivably, I could complete the entire series rough drafts during this year, assuming average length as under 15k.
3. Complete my first draft edits of Sanity Vacuum. There’s a lot to do here (see: written on painkillers, kind of disjointed), and it’s vastly different from editing a Zombie Bedtime Story for reasons related to length and continuity. I absolutely love the story and concept of it, which is why I’m putting so much effort into saving it. Tough love style.

In essence, these goals closely mirror my plan for the rest of the year. Eventually, I won’t have a novel to edit and hopefully by that time I’ll be able to look at getting employment that’s more gainful than my Kindle sales. 500 words per day is easily attainable, I’ve had days where I can finely craft that much prose in 15 minutes.

I’m thinking of goals for Sanity Vacuum. I’m going by chapters/day for edits–I try to get 2/3 chapters per day inked up and inputted. After this draft, print-off editing is going away because of budget issues. Then, I see other people managing 15k/day in edits, and feel inadequate.

What do your editing goals look like?

Victory at day 25: My NaNoWriMo Adventure

The dust has settled, and I have emerged victorious over the beast of NaNoWriMo. I planned on finishing today, and that’s exactly what I did.

 

I win!

 

It was a tough fight. It took all of the stubbornness, self-discipline, perseverance and sheer will I had, but I cranked out an average of 2000 words/day for 25 days straight, when most sane or less-driven people were telling me to get my half-dead posterior back to bed. As of yesterday, I’ve been breathing mostly without pain, and can manage very short walks. However, I seem to have caught a cold.

Now, here are my final thoughts on NaNoWriMo, made 100% more true and legitimate because I won.

1. Get mad. At yourself, your characters, anything. Just be angry. Stare at those stats with hatred and rage in your eyes (especially the “Words remaining” section.) Lemma 1: Don’t get depressed. Be awesome instead.
2. Find cheerleaders, people who will cheer you on and are so overwhelmingly positive they make you want to puke.
3. Get writing buddies. Check their progress daily. If you’re not in the top of the bunch (after the crazy people who finish in 10 days, of course) then refer to item 1.
4. Stick to your goal. If you miss it, compensate the next day. If you manage a spectacular failure of a day, then figure out a way to average it out, and refer to item 1.
5. Convince yourself that whatever you’re writing is the most fascinating subject known to man. Fall in love with it. Rave on twitter about space stations.
6. Don’t be afraid to brag. It feels good.

I started crying as I was writing my last sentences. I never cry at books or movies as a rule, I’m usually very aware of the boundaries between fantasy and reality. Something about Sanity Vacuum was different. Maybe it was the way I ended it, or the fact that I’ll miss my characters. Perhaps there’s a certain casual brutality to the zombie genre. I usually know which characters are fodder, and inoculate myself accordingly.

Tomorrow, I go to a small press fair, and see what’s out there in my fair city. I might try to pick up a paying gig with a local company or two, for some spending money and more name out-there-ness. I know the word is exposure, let me have my fun. I won NaNoWriMo today.

Otherwise, I begin writing Zombie Bedtime Stories part 4, Bedlam on Monday, and I begin putting the final touches on Deadlocked. It rolls out in about a week, and I think it’s the best one yet.

December will be a full month. I have one book release, a novella to write, a novel to edit, and two blog hops. I hope you guys are along for the ride! January, I’m wanting to do a blog tour. If anyone is interested in hosting, drop me a line.

Now, I have a bottle of champagne that urgently needs my attention.

A new review, Deadlocked off to the editor, and Bedlam begins

What a title. I’m saving the best for last, though.

I needed to rework Deadlocked‘s ending. The previous one didn’t feel perfect, which simply will not do at all. I may play with the order the stories come in, after Bedlam. Speaking of Bedlam, I just finished its outline. It certainly lives up to the name, lets just say that.

In news that is awesome, The Zombie’s Bride just got a review from Double Shot Reviews. Head on over and check out what they’re saying, then download the story for free!

 

The Zombie’s Bride, now free on Kindle, and other good things

At long last, Amazon has made The Zombie’s Bride free for Kindle. This is not a limited time offer, I consider it to be a sampler of my work, put out there as a way to entice people into trying my other work (notably, the Zombie Bedtime Stories.) So please, download it early, and often!

It’s interesting to note that I’ve moved 560+ copies in one day as of this writing. It’s pretty well ranked, and I’m hoping that good things will come of it!

In other good news, I’m pretty hopeful for even more reviews to be out within the next week, thanks to some nice blogger-types. Now, all I have to do is finish Deadlocked already, and I’ll be set for meeting October goals.

October goals:

• Write outline/chapter guides for NaNoWriMo
• Start/Complete Zombie Bedtime Stories draft #4: Bedlam
• Sell 50 copies (combined) of Locked In and Locked Out. (I made my goal of 25 for September, why not aim high?)
• Edit Deadlocked and aim for end of October release (or early November, depending)

 

 

A review, and Deadlocked is almost written!

You read that right. I got a review for Zombie Pride! It’s from the nice people with the Zombie Response Team. If you haven’t checked out Zombie Pride yet, now you can read exactly what you’re missing out on! Don’t worry, it being free isn’t a limited time offer.

In other news, Deadlocked is almost finished. I have to write the conclusion/closing, and it’s time for edits. You’ll see a blurb and cover within the next couple of weeks. I’m excited with how it’s turning out. I’ve been slow writing it, but the deliberate pace seems to have an overall positive effect.

I want to write most of part 4, Bedlam, during October. I’m (liberal estimate) hoping to have part 4 out by Christmas. There’s going to be a delay called NaNoWriMo, but let’s just say that I’m conjuring up something quite different during that month from what you’re used to. Of course, it won’t be available for a long time, so it honestly doesn’t really matter.

A New Bite-Sized Zombie Story, Zombie Pride, now free!

That’s right, I said free. My beloved cover artist came up with a suitably nice cover, and now, I’m showing it off to the world, for your reading pleasure.

My Bite-Sized Zombie Stories exist in the same universe as Zombie Bedtime Stories, but they do not follow the story chronology and do not carry on the plot. They’re essentially me killing nasty people with zombies for the amusement of all. The nasty people totally asked for it and deserved it, so no sympathetic characters were harmed in the making of these stories. However, sometimes, a sympathetic character will be mentioned. (Haley from Locked In was mentioned in The Zombie’s Bride, for instance. I wonder why she stopped answering her phone. Hmm.)

Check out the cover art:

Zombie Pride Cover

And now, for links:

Smashwords

Kindle Version (not free yet, that apparently takes a while. I won’t complain if anyone buys it, however.)

Of course, I plan on creating a YouTube video for Zombie Pride, which I will create when I’m over this stupid flu-type bug. I also plan on doing a reading of Locked Out chapter 1.